Project Approach
Approach
The NAP Project uses a mulitpronged approach to achieve its objectives. An iterative and incremental methodology as well as action research. The project covers five main tracks; Domain R&D, Technical R&D, Management and Leadership, Deployment and Sustainability, and Methodologies.
The public face of NAP is based on a service centre approach. Services will be provided from specific and specially equipped centres located in schools, clinics, hospitals, multi-purpose community centres, etc, linking up where possible with existing government, private sector and Disabled Peoples’ Organisations’ structures. Each of these centres will contain accessible ICT equipment (e.g. screen reader software for the blind, wheelchair friendly access, etc). Usage by unskilled people will be facilitated by interpreters and helpers trained in ICT and disabilities (including people with disabilities). The latest technologies and disability-related content will be incorporated into the portal and will allow information access, interactive communication and data sharing on a 24-hour basis. Pilot service centres will be implemented in the Limpopo Province during phase 2. The learning and specific needs for various types of centre (rural, urban, peri-urban) will then be packaged into an implementation framework, so that these service centres can be replicated and rolled out as needed throughout the provinces. A service centre will be provided in each of the remaining provinces and then handed over to the provincial government in order to facilitate rollout throughout the province. The aim is to ensure sustainability of each service centre.
Underpinning the service centres is technology research and development covering a wide range of disability-related technology issues, specific to South Africa and Africa. This includes, directed research towards the creation of a platform for the delivery of solutions addressing the localised communication challenges facing people living with disabilities. The aim is also to directly contribute to improved quality of life of these people by addressing a critical human need to communicate with others through new and affordable technology. The project will generate tangible outputs in the form of technology building blocks and technology demonstrators. The technology demonstrators will be built on a technology platform that can form the basis of further research and development beyond this project, and will be integrated into a physical demonstration device. Strong partnerships will be formed with local and international researchers who are active in this domain. The research and development will be highly multi-disciplinary, drawing on disciplines ranging from Human Computer Interfacing (HCI), Human Language Technologies (HLT), Open Source Software (OSS), multi-cultural computing, through to ergonomics (in terms of physical device design) and psychology. Dissemination of research results will be promoted by releasing technology as open source software thereby stimulating global participation in the R&D efforts leading to affordable and localised technology.
Extensive domain research and development will be undertaken with regard to understanding the disability domain in South Africa. A “Face of Disability” survey will be designed and developed in partnership with various local institutions such as the University of Venda, University of Limpopo and the HSRC. It is critical to the success of the initiative that good quality and sufficient information is available to support national rollout, government policy, appropriate service provision (by both the service centres and local and national government) and to direct technological research and development activities.
An important aspect of the whole initiative is to ensure that the learning gained from this project will not be lost. Throughout each of the phases of the project, learning will be packaged to develop a comprehensive processes and methodology blueprint, so that the initiative can be replicated – either in the disability domain in other African or developing countries or in other domains.